Hunger Games

Matt Trivisonno

The number of Americans receiving food stamps hit a new high of almost 47 million in June, reports Bloomberg.

The chart above, from Matt Trivisonno, shows the growth of this program by month over the past few years. (Matt has more cool food stamp charts here).

47 million is about 15% of Americans.

Global Economic Analysis

The cost of the "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," as it is now euphemistically called, has soared even faster than usage in recent years (see chart at right). The annual cost of the program in the fiscal year ended September was $76 billion, more than double the cost of four years earlier.

$76 billion is a lot of money, so it's not surprising that some policy-makers want to cut it.

The Republican candidate for VP, Paul Ryan, for example, wants to chop this cost by $33 billion over the next 10 years.

Ryan's aim is admirable--getting the country's massive budget deficit under control.

But it's hard to imagine that there aren't other areas of the $4 trillion of the federal budget that could yield those savings. 

(Maybe it's just me, but it would be hard for me to feel good about this country if we let Americans starve. I'd rather cut a lot of other government spending before I cut food stamps.)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/number-of-americans-food-stamps-2012-9#ixzz25atv4VtG